Layout Design and Its Effects on Burglary

This paper presents preliminary findings of an ongoing research in attempts to answer if residential layouts in Malaysia influence similar burglary distribution patterns as in a previous syntax-based study. The instrument used in this research was space syntax, a tool to analyze urban spaces. By comparing burglary rates to syntactical spatial attributes in eight residential layouts, the findings of this paper showed how spatial attributes influenced burglary. It also attempted to relate how degree of permeability of layouts may have affected vulnerability. It concluded by suggesting for further studies to look into spatial factors that could interact together to influence burglary.